Senior Reporter
ann-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt
Even as residents of Train Line, Freeman Road, St Augustine, continue to flee the area to escape becoming victims of gang violence, they continue to be stalked by gunmen.
Coconut vendor Roger Maraj who fled the Train Line with his six children back in January was gunned down in Curepe on Saturday morning.
He was the seventh resident of the Train Line to be gunned down within the last four months.
Innocent members of the public are now in the firing line as the killers have now extended their radius of operations from the Train Line.
The 42-year-old father of seven died just after 8 am, as he began his day’s work selling coconuts outside Maharaj Supermarket at the corner of Bushe and Jackson streets in Curepe.
Maraj’s children feared the worst as they heard the volley of gunshots ringing out.
Unconcerned about his safety, a male relative ran from their rented home to Maraj’s side as he lay bleeding on the ground, hoping he could be saved. But what he witnessed instead was Maraj taking his last breath.
Begging for justice yesterday, Maraj’s eldest daughter, Susan, cried bitterly as she told reporters, “Nobody could compare to my father.”
No stranger to adversity, she said, “During his hardest times, he was always laughing. If it’s one thing, he was always for his kids. That was one thing he didn’t make joke with, nobody could interfere with us just so.”
She denied he was in trouble with the law or involved in any criminal activities.
“We used to live in the Train Line and he didn’t want to be part of that so he realised that after the first set of shooting it had there we was in danger,” she explained.
Following the murder of Darshan Ramnauth, 16, and Geno Shah on January 24 at Warner Street, Susan revealed, “A lot of us get away from bullets. I get away from two bullets as my boyfriend pushed me from two bullets passing through the house. When my father see that, he done make up he mind we can’t live there anymore because I have a lil baby.”
Crying as she wondered how Maraj’s granddaughter and children would live now as he had been everything to them, she wept, “My father needs justice.”
Other relatives endorsed claims that he worked hard to support his family, including driving a taxi when he could, to bring in extra money.
Another woman claimed, “When Aneesa dead, everything changed in the Train Line.”
Aneesa Ramkissoon, a mother of three, was executed on March 3 at the Train Line, which is off Warner Street.
“They coming for the innocent,” one of them added.
“Yes, hundred per cent we scared,” Susan said.
The killings at Warner Street and Train Line began back in January following the murders of Ramnauth and Shah by four gunmen who opened fire on a group of men who had been standing on the road.
Their killings were followed by the execution of Ramkissoon.
A 21-year-old Five Rivers man has since been charged with the killings of Ramnauth and Shah, while Ramkissoon’s killers are on the loose.
The intimidation and harassment of residents continued after two masked men set Ramkissoon’s sister’s home alight on March 6.
This was followed by the torching of a house belonging to Kishore and Vijay Mahabir on March 26, and then Indrani Joseph’s home on March 29.
All the homes were situated along the Train Line.
The murder of Daniel Riley, 21, followed on April 7 at his Freeman Road home.
Two gunmen reportedly ran into the container where Riley had lived with his pregnant girlfriend Angelie, 16, and opened fire on the couple as they slept.
Riley died at the scene, while his girlfriend lost their baby.
On April 26, gunmen killed Dillon Joseph as he sold watermelons at the Caroni Roundabout. He too lived at Freeman Road.
Chris Pooran, who lived at Warner Street, was subsequently killed on May 3.
St Augustine MP Khadijah Ameen
OFFICE OF THE PARLIAMENT
MP Ameen pleads for peace in
St Augustine
MP for the area Khadijah Ameen is asking how many more must die before those in authority put a stop to the killings. MP Ameen said she has been calling on the police and representatives of various government agencies to work with the community to treat the social issues that make young people vulnerable to violence, criminal activities and gang involvement.
She is also calling on those involved to put down the guns and let peace prevail. Ameen said she remains “committed to bringing peace back to the community” and is urging the Minister of National Security to do more to reduce the number of high-powered weapons entering T&T and ending up in the hands of criminals.
